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EAGLE

Estrella Warbirds Museum—Paso Robles CA 93446

Inspiring The Future/Remembering The Past Volume 22 No. 4 April, 2017

The Silent Sentinels At EWM

Prez Sez. . Next Month. Instead :

Obtain a volunteer sheet at EWM front desk, fill it

out and have some fun at WWW9/Mega Swap Meet

May 13, 2017. Remember: Barn Dance On Friday

Evening May 12, 2017 with Monte Mills and the

Lucky Horseshoe Band. Purchase tickets ($35 ea.)

with auto registration prior to May 9, 2107! Limited

to the first 250. Special parking for hot rods!

Or, Call 805-238-9317. Order Now! Prez Agreez!

The NAVY’S First Jet Aviation Pioneer Profiled

In Award Winning Bio, Harnessing The Sky

George Marrett’s Guest Speakers On April 5

Harnessing the Sky is one of the last untold stories in 100

years of naval aviation. This biography of Vice Adm.

Frederick M. Trapnell explores the legacy of the man who

has been called “the godfather of current naval aviation.”

A pilot of calculated courage, “Trap” entered the Navy

when test pilots were more like stuntmen than engineers.

Airplanes had not yet come into their own as weapons of

war, and they had an undeveloped role in the fleet. His

vision and leadership shaped the evolution of naval avia-

tion through its formative years and beyond. This book has

been awarded the Silver Medal in Biography by the Mili-

tary Writers Society of America. George Marrett has

again scheduled a must-see event for our dinner/ meeting

at Thompson Hall on the evening of April 5. Do Not miss

this presentation.

Fredrick Trapnell Jr.

Dana Trapnell Tibbits

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RESTORATION CORNER. . . .

Updates From The Hangar

RVN Gun Truck— As of this writing, this

project is perhaps the most ambitious in the

house along with the H-19 helicopter. The

goal is to get into correct shape to make the Paso Pioneer Day Parade

later in the year. Recent acquisitions included

an M-60 machine gun to match the .50 cal.

already procured. Mounts for these pieces

are almost complete. Right now work on the

cab includes armor windows (driving one of

these things was quite hairy) and doors

which are now detached and waiting for final

fabrication of the plate steel needed. Resto

recently acquired a very

used Brake to handle the

job of cutting and bending this plate. Final Army drab and “Snoopy”

paint scheme is scheduled for the

summer months. A Gun Truck some-

times traveled with an escort of at

least one M-151 Jeep. So, a new Gar-

age Mate/Project has been acquired

to precede our Gun Truck , perhaps,

in the 2018 parade: the first Viet Nam

Era Jeep in our collection. More on

that later.

Firebee Drone— Vigorous final

paint and buffing are in the works.

Look for the finished product by . .

. . . April Fools Day? Take a peek

inside the Resto Bldg. where it

hangs on the work rack, all draped

in canvas protective covering. In

the end, elbow grease ultimately

gets the job done.

Restored M-151

Cr 1969

Bill Lander With

Replica M-60

Ron Boyt Detail-Sands Out

Rust on Gun Truck Hood

Dennis Johansen Buffs Up His Paint Job

On Starboard Firebee Wing

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Dates To Consider. . . .

APRIL. . .

1 April Fools Day

5 EWM/WAD

MEETING & DINNER 6pm

9 Palm Sunday

15 Income Tax Day

16 Easter Sunday

MAY. . .

12 Barn Dance EWM

13 WWW9/MEGA SWAP MEET

14 MOTHER’S DAY

18-21 Paso Wine Fest

JUNE. . .

24 ESTRELLA GOLF OUTING

PASO ROBLES

GOLF CLUB

And On This Date In History,

February 11, 2017 . . .

Dick’s Garage. . . .

Midget Ponies Arrive At EWM For Permanent Display

WAD - Two “new” Midget Racers arrived via flat bed at Woodland

Auto Display on February 22 to begin their new lives on perma-

nent display with their

brothers and sisters at

WAD. These are very

special “pieces”. Blue

#72 from 1952 is

named after the late

Patricia Diane Woodland. It competed throughout the USA in the

50s and 60s with famed drivers like Johnny Boyd and Indy driver

Bob Sweikert. The white #2 dates to the early ‘80s and is

powered by an alcohol fueled Volkswagen engine. It was built by

Rich and Don Vogler for racing in Australia and New Zealand. This

is, indeed, a rare car. The late Rich Vogler ranks just behind A.J.

Foyt in total USAC (United States Auto Club) wins. Fans will

welcome these two steeds into the Woodland Auto Display,

adding to the allure of EWM/WAD across the U.S. of A.

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“Down The Rabbit Hole” At EWM/WAD?

New Distilleries Thrive. Wine Industry Supplies Some Raw Materials

EWM/WAD— You had to be there on February 25. Down The Rabbit Hole so to speak. Down The Rabbit Hole

defined: An allusion to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. To go "down the rabbit hole" is to enter a period of

chaos or confusion. Can also be said when taking a hallucinogenic, as some suspect

Carroll's novel was really about a drug trip. Our area is full of entrepreneurs, some of

whom have gone into the manufacture of distilled spirits! They make up the PASO

ROBLES DISTILLERY TRAIL. Along the TRAIL find Opolo, Red Soles, Krobar, Pendray’s,

Wild Coyote, Bethel Rd., Wine Shine, Azeo, Re-Find and Autry (down yonder in SLO).

This consort of distillers held a tasting event in the hangar that evening. The Editor

estimates just shy of 200 attendees for a 3-hour tasting event. There was a Kumquat

whiskey available (hence “Down The Rabbit Hole”?) and it was really good! Kiddies must be at least 21 years old.

Directions to the Trailhead: www.pasoroblesdistillerytrail.com

Pendray’s

Foggy Bottom

Happy Tasters

The Russos

Sparkling Chevy Corvettes line up on the flight line for a self-guided tour of EWM/WAD on March 4. This intrepid

bunch saddled up in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria and ponied up to Paso Robles to enjoy the sights and tastes this

area is famous for. The Central Coast Corvette Club joined the Santa Barbara Corvette Club contingent for the trip.

The Leader Of The Pack this trip was Ed DeBruin in a red C-5 Corvette. Mike Woloshansky, VP of Central Coast says the

group was “treated like gold”, loved the escort to the flight line and posing for photos. They like to come up to EWM/

WAD at least once per year. Got here too late for the Wayne Rice luncheon special this time. Maybe next time.

Photos Mike Levine

CORVETTE ROW AT EWM/WAD . . . . . . . . .

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EWM/WAD—February 11 Part of the Central Coast

Chapter of CORSA (Corvair Society of America) paid

a visit to EWM/WAD on Dick Rutan Weekend. Jim

Pennell, Chapter President, brought his cool, funky

Van and two other classics to the Museum to enjoy

the sunshine, the ride, the planes and, of course the

WAD CARS. Jim is partial to real history, so his

favorite in the Woodland stable is the Crosley Pick

Up . He was raised in Fresno and fondly recalls the

Midget races there. Tony Gallo (no relation to wine)

is a first time visitor. He is a docent at the Santa

Maria Air Museum. He appreciates the “wide range

of the display”. Phil and Susan Dally in the dark blue

4-Door were amazed at the size of the museum. If

not for the schedule they could “spend most of the

day here”. Jim says they will be back with more

Corvairs. No Corsairs in the Club, however. Maybe

an extra treat is in store for the next visit: a cheap

lunch in Thompson Hall with the Resto crew. with

the Restoration Crew. Hurry Back!

CORSA SITE: http://www.centralcoastcorsa.org/

OR Corsair

All Welcome At EWM/WAD

CORVAIR

Monthly Dinner Menu

April 5, 2017

$20.00

Social 6pm/ Dinner 7pm

Harnessing The Sky, After Dinner

Easter Ham

Scalloped Potatoes

Green Salad

String Beans

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Reservations: 805-296-1935

On Line: www.ewarbirds.org

See drop down at Members/Staff

NB: Make reservations by 1800 hrs

Monday prior to Dinner/Meeting NOW HEAR THIS. . .

April 10 is the deadline for resumes from those candidates running for Estrella Board of Directors. The list will be pre-sented to BOD at the April BOD meeting. The election for BOD will be in May, 2017.

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JUST WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE UP TO ?

USE COMMITTEE GETS INTO CUSTOM

“GAME BOARDING” FOR PLANNING

EWM FUTURE LAYOUT

EWM Use Committee: Strategic Planning in Action.

Curator Dr. Jill Thayer provided the campus map and

game board pieces of aircraft and rolling vehicles for the

committee’s arrangement expertise. Aerial photo by PIO

Dr. Mike Levine. "It’s a process, but an organized one,”

noted Thayer. “This gives us a broad range of display and

utility options as we acquire macro-artifacts in the

museum’s expansion." The meeting was held at Venteux

Vineyards and hosted by Owner Scott Stelzle. Committee

members: l-r: Rob Kinnear (Chair/EWM Treasurer), Bill

Lander (Acquisitions ), Ren Stelloh (Board Director), Ron

Brooks (Board Director), Scott Stelzle (EWM Vice Presi-

dent), not shown: Kim Clarke (Board Director), and Dr. Jill

Thayer (Curator). Dr. Thayer made up the display aerial

photo print of EWM obtained from Mike Levine, Photo

Shopped out the planes, trucks, jeeps, canons and

“ground clutter” to show nothing but open ground and the concrete travel strip that meanders

through the display area. Each one of the “board pieces” represents one of the artifacts we show to

the public. Scott Steizle is holding board piece #1 which represents the Cessna T-37. Place that

down somewhere on our new MAP, and you have a selected location at the Museum for the Cessna

T-37. Move them around like pieces on a chess board. Now that is a stroke of ingenuity!

On Friday, March 10 twenty two active duty Marines

undergoing Cryptologic - Linguistic training at the Defense

Language Institute in Monterey, visited Estrella Warbirds

Museum. This tour was arranged by our Col. John

Whitworth, USMC (ret). He is pictured at left in the red cap.

Assisting Col. Whitworth was our Marine Forrest Johnson

(docent, far left in photo) and Mike Levine (F-18 Sim Opera-

tor). This Platoon toured the entire museum.

In case you are wondering what on earth a person does with Cryptologic-Linguistic training: A cryptologic

linguist is primarily responsible for identifying foreign communications using signals equipment. Their

role is crucial as the nation's defense depends largely on information that comes from foreign languages.

This training can last well over 40 weeks. Check it out at leatherneck.com

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Paso’s Golden State Classic Car Club

Rumbles into Estrella/Woodland

For A Special Presentation: Our Museum! EWM/WAD March 11 - The Golden State Classic Car Club came to

meet in Thompson Hall and get the treatment from Estrella/

Woodland. Forming up in the meeting hall, the introductions took

but a few minutes and off they were, surrounding the hangar first of

all, then the restoration garage. It was a Saturday, so the Restos had

some things to share with the visitors. Many locals have not had the opportunity to see, up

close, the major projects under way: the H-19 and H-34 helicopters, the Firebee drone, the

Welbike, Gun Truck and the newbie in the garage, the M-151 jeep PLUS all the future projects in line out back and

along the east fence. Claudia and Dick Woodland and EWM/WAD Member Allen Duckworth, a Golden State member ,

escorted the fellow “gearheads” around the grounds for about 3 hours, stopping for meaningful visits in Freedom Hall, Red

Ball, Brooks and finally Woodland Display. The Classic Club President was quick with a Thank You Note: “Thank you for

such a wonderful tour today. The club truly appreciated Dick's tour with all his stories about the cars. Comments were made

about this being “one of our best cruises”. It was fun listening to the guys reminiscing about the different cars, planes, and

helicopters- ... “that is my all-time favorite car” ... “this plane is just like the one I made my first jump out of” ... “this is like

the helicopter I almost fell out of in Viet Nam” (Yikes). Several comments were made about what a beautifully organized

museum it is. We all loved the day.”

Golden State President Paulette Pahler, Host-With-The-Most Dick Woodland

Ron Boyt on Lecture Circut

Hot ‘55 And Owner

Tom Coppoletto

Carlos Plummer, Director

“Nine Lives Of Harold Bauer”

The Meeting of the Board of EWM/WAD moved their meeting date in order to let

members attend the presentation of the documentary “Nine Lives Of Harold Bau-

er” at the San Luis Obispo Film Festival! The film screened at 4pm on March 15 at

the Downtown Center Cinemas in San Luis Obispo. This short film on the exploits

of our esteemed member Herr Bauer is already locally famous. “The Nine Lives of

Harald Bauer” has been accepted as part of the KCET Finecut Online Film Festival as

a semifinalist. The film is up for a Viewer’s Choice Award, which will be determined

by votes for the film. The voting precedes printing of this newsletter. Good Luck

Carlos and Harold!!!!

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FROM THE EDITOR….

If you see or experience anything concerning planes

and/or automobiles that you think may be of interest to

our membership, send it to me via email by the 12th of

the month: steve@lochenphoto.com

Everything will be considered. Send names with photos.

Easy as that!

Thanks! Steve Lochen,

Volunteers Wanted………… MAY 13 AT WWW9

GIFT SHOP: Thursday through Sunday, 10am until 4pm.

Call Toni Moore at 805-238-9317.

LIBRARY: Open when the Museum is open. Contact Tom

Gorham at tag2878@cox.net or call the museum at

805-238-9317.

MUSEUM GREETER/DOCENT: Open when museum is open.

Meet and Greet. Call Jerry Jones, Museum Coordinator at

805-238-9317.

RESTORATION: Hands On! - “Get Dirty”! Just show up

Monday, Wednesday or Saturday. starting at 9AM. Gourmet

Lunch on Saturday provided by Wayne Rice. See Ron Boyte or

anyone in the Shop.

COOKS: Saturdays cooks/assistants for the volunteers.

Contact Wayne Rice at 805-423-8828.

Lake Corippo in February 2017

4251 Dry Creek Road

805-238-9317

Thursday—Sunday

10am—4pm

F-111

All Models Pictured In This Issue Are On Display In Freedom Hall